Have just stacked the 2017 wine (Pitarra) in the bodega (shed).A short slurp (testing, you understand) revealed pretty potent year. Must get a hygrometer sometime, so I can see how strong! I guess the harvest was about 575 kilos of grapes, giving approx 550 litres of must. After two natural fermentations, and maturing, it was bottled.Bottled wine is 250 litres.Anyone passing by can sample and take away a lot; we have over four years of plonk accumulating and very little being drawn. Photo shows vats (tinajas) at back, bottled wine in front ready to shift to our bodega, yours truly back right.

Beer here, is not what I had been accustomed to in Essex so had to adapt or opt out.So, to prevent being under the table most of the time I have adapted to continental beer and will quaff it if sufficiently chilled.

But there is some damned good Spanish wines, both red and white, which I could write a few thousand words on, but will spare you.

Our Pitarra, whilst proudly claiming natural fermentation and no additives, is not, er, a great drink.Moreover, each year is different and unpredictable.We have only had one year in our ten years stewardship of the finca when the resultant liquid went down the drain; we did not need that quantity of vinegar, thank you.Most years it is drinkable varying from a tad sweet to needing an additive of lemonade or similar.Wife is very honest and accepts it as an ingredient to many of her culinary concoctions, but is equally able to turn her nose up and prefer a glass of a bought Rioja or Ribera Del Duero.

After a few years, and not having given enough away to grateful tradesmen for their kitchens, I will admit to chucking some, so have never gone in for the snobby laying down of a good year.Sadly, I have not found a practical use for unloved wine destined for the soil, so even brushes are cleansed with bought solvent.

Pass by, or better still stay for a few days. and you might just make an honest assessment of our plonk, and decline the offer to fill the RCZ boot.

We can do wicked stuff over here also.Aguardiente or Orujo is the firewater distilled in Spain, mainly from the leftovers after making wine.The most civilised and harmless way of consuming it, is as the base of licores (liqueurs) of many flavours.The finest and most sought after of these is Herbas from Galicia, which has infused in it a secret (yeah, right!) mix of herbs and aromatic stuff.It is nectar and most restaurants (unless crap) will place a bottle on the table with shot glasses at the end of a meal for diners to sip as a digestif whilst chatting.Back to our own world, our most pleasant connection with orujo and herbas is the illicit still of the father of our son-in-law, up in the North West (Galicia).The law is very vague, or possibly just stretched or ignored, regarding distillation, by other than licensed manufacturers.I have been told that each family can have a small (that's vague enough) still and can produce a quantity of aguardiente limited to the reasonable use by the family, and cannot be sold.So, the distribution then widens to include friends, neighbours; and exchange or bartering is not selling is it, eh?Then it is said that if you are found carrying (eh?) more than a couple (guess that is half dozen) of bottles, you must be up to no good, and might have to give plod a bottle or two to lighten the load (har, har).The still of our neighbour here is a modest vessel, more like a huge kettle, but the one up in Galicia is a permanent fixture in an outhouse, and maybe three metres high and a couple in girth.He has a reputation for its quality and flogs it for a good price to all and sundry, with gifting to others who could cause him difficulties.Their land, which is several hectares, has many times more vines than we have, and the red is superb.So, what is left over after bottling goes in the still, and comes out looking like crystal clear water.It is wicked, so I usually follow my son-in-law's example with a splash in a coffee to set me up for the day.But I much prefer their delicious herbas, which, although a little sweet, has a unique and wonderful flavour.Last thing at night, sitting round nattering and sipping, into the small hours, has been the norm when visiting the in-laws.